Clearing out strap for belt conveyers



Nov. 24, 1931.

F. GRIFFITH ET AL- CLEARING OUT STRAP FOR BELT CONVEYERS Filed Nov. 4, 1929 Franc/.3 and ayaurice B.

INVENTORS: 67v ////z with ATORNEY V by the passage of the Patented Nov. 24, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT" FRANCIS GRIFFITH, or PASSAIC, AND MAURICE B. sMIT'H, or EAST o Ansn, EW

JERSEY, 'ASsIG'NoRs TOTHE WESTERN UNION N. Y, A CORPORATION 01* NEW YORK LEA ING OUT STRAP FOR coNvEYnRs Application filed November 4, 929. Serial No. 404317;

lhis invention relates to belt conveyers and more particularly to endless belt cone veyers for the transportation of flat parcels,j. such as telegrams, letters and thelike,'in an upright or vertical position. I

' In a copending application of d Humy,

Birkmeyer and-Griffith, filed March 13, 1929,

Serial No. 350,751, and entitledBelt, conveyers, now Patent 1,801,906,a belt conveyer of the above nature is described in which an endless belt is operated in a guideway formed by two side plates which extend partially over the top of the belt and which diverge upwardly from the belt to forma substantially V-shaped trough through which the telegram or similar article may be conveyed in a vertical or on edge position. The present invention is in some respects an improvment on the conveyer disclosed in said application, the improvement consisting mainly in the form and construction of the clearing-out members of the belt, which serve to remove any papers or other objects lodged in the trough or-between the trough and the belt 5 and to carry the same along the conveyer and in the manner of supporting the return reach of the belt. 7 I I In said application the belt is provided at intervals with cross strips or cleats in the form of solid bars which extend substantially from side to side of the upper face ofithe belt and whichserve' to remove any obstructing material from the conveyer.

the trough, and to prevent the sheets from slipping beneath the trough, intermediate the cleats, continuous side flanges; areprovided on the margins of the belt. The cleats also require the provision of some means for Some difiiculty has been experienced with. this form of clearing-out members due to' from the belt caused Moreover the return.

The cleats moreover require a considerable amountof clearance to be main-' tained between the belt and the lower end of TELEGRAPH compan on new, YORK,

raisingthe belt above the surface of there turn Supports sufiiciently to prevent the cleats l from engagingnwith the supports; In the aforementioned application this means isprovideohby the side flanges on-the belt which are extended above" the topaofthe cleats.

These Side flanges, whilecomposedof flexible readily accommodate itself of the passage ofgthe belt around the .supportingroller's,

Another object is to provide a continuous support for the return length of the belt cooperating with said clearing out members in such a manner that the clearing-out mem-' bers do not interfere with the return movement of the belt.

Other objects and advantages as the description proceeds.

In accordancewith our inventionwe elimr-" nate the transverseclearing 'out cleatsand side flanges of the belt, leaving the margins.

.. of the belt plainnand weare thereby enabled to reduce the clearance between thebottom. of the troughiandthebeltso as to reduce the possibility of the lower edge of the sheets lodging between thebelt andthebase of the trough and in order-to definitely re move any portion. ofa sheet which [maybecome so. lodged, we provide aiclearingout member in the form ofalstrap composed of any suitable material," such as leather, secured: at veach end-to the faceof the beltand having a central or intermediate.

portion arched above the belt and extending upwardlyinto the trough a substantial dis tance, for? engagement ,with the. parcels or telegrams depositedwithin theguidewayand- I serving to remove the messagesfrombeneath r the lower edge of the trough and'belt and to carry the same through :the trough; strapis ofa width somewhat. less than that of therbelt' so as to leave the margins of the:

belt, which extend under the overlying por-? tion of thetrough, free. [With this'construction, as the beltpasses around the end rollers the same to become detached or loosened from the belt. The return length of the belt is supported onlt-wo spaeed longitudinally extending members such as. a pair of angle,

irons, which engage the face of the belt only adjacent its edgeswith the strap depending from the belt betwen the spaced support members and therefore offering no interference with the return movement of thebelt.

Ino rder that. the invention may bemore fully understood reference'will'be had to the f accompanying drawings in which Flgure 1 1s a perspective view, partly 1n section, of abelt conveyer embodying my invention; and

1 Figure 2 is-avertical, sectional viewof the conveyer, W

The. conveyeris with a base-memberlO consisting of achannel iron having its flanges-turned downwardly,

,. over .the latter "of which the are secured the vertical edge portions 11 of a 1 pair of side plates 12: and'1'3. The vertical .25:

edged portions .11 project slightly above the channel and the side plates 12 and 13 extend horizontally towards each other from. the tops of the edge portions 11 to form be-1t edge overing flanges 14, from which the side plates extend upwardly and divergently to form the conveyertrough- On the top of the side plates 12 and 13 are stifiening and sup- .porting angles 15 having vertical depending legs and outwardly extending. horizontal legs, side plates are extended outwardly .as at 16 and bent around and under: asiat 17:

There is. thus formed a narrow trough with flaring sides and having-its bottom opening into ahousingfor aconveyer belt 18. WVith this arrangement telegrams or V I ticles19= dropped into. the trough will be car 7 grams or other articles conveyer,

and slides on the ried alongby the belt in a vertical position, asashown, and the lower overlying portion l i'of the housing, from catching beneath the belt.

"Supporting posts or standards 20, which may be composed of channel irons, are used to support the conveyer and each post is provided i with a'channel'cap 21 onwhich the flange formed by theparts 16 17, of the side. plates 12 and 18, rest.

Tim

closure or housing at the bottom of the trough top of the channel bar 10, which forms thesuie Since. the beltgis thus "continuously a uniform clean 1 anoe is maintained between the belt-and the lower end of the trough, permitting the trough to be spaced quite closely-to thebelt', toreduce; the possibility of the lower edge I of the messages. catching under the trough.

'erably. composedof leather or and are of such width To these flanges similar arportionsof the tele-- are protected, by the.

the conveyer: If

upper reach: of the belt, forming thetravels through the rectangular enbottom wall of the enclo- The lower or return reach of the belt is carried on two spaced part angle irons 22 ex tending longitudinal of the trough beneath the channel 10. The supporting angles 22 are secured to the vertical posts 20..

Adjacent each end of the conveyer the bottom wall 10 of: the belt enclosure is discontinned and the belt passes around the driving or idler pulley 23. The conveyer belt is 1driven in any suitable'm'anner, as by the puley2a- At intervalsalong its length,'the belt is provided with clearing-out straps 24, prefterial, having the ends 25 secured to the belt and the central portion arched thereabove and extending longitudinal thereof. The straps24 are disposed centrally of the belt .as to pass freely through the trough between the side walls 12 and 13 thereof. Itiwillbe noted that the strap is continuous across the neck ofthetrough and'projects a substantial distance," somewhat greater" than the width of the trough above the belt through the open bottom of the trough. 1

With this form of clearing-out member. there is no tendency for loosening of the same from the belt in passing around the pulleys 23v since the arch of thestrap readily in the relative location similar malee angles 22, with the clearing-out straps 24 depending from the facexof the belt between the guide members,.thus causing no interfer ence with the return movement of the belt.

"In use the telegrams or other-papers are simply dropped. into the conveyer with the headings upinost and facing in the desired direction. They will. travel along the system,

being removed at any desired. point along the way or being delivered from the end of: a telegram should be held,

stationary in the trough for any reason, such as static, it can remain stationary only forf an instant until it is engaged by one of the clearing-out. straps 24, which will thereafter push. it to the-end ofthe conveyer. If the. lower edges of a message slip-between the lower end of the troughand the'bel't, so. that the blank extends diagonally]. across the trough, from the lower end, of one side wall,

to -the upper edge .or: intermediate portion.- of' the other side wall, to whichit' may .ad,-;

here by static,its passage through thetrough will be stopped, blocking the: passage ofSucceeding blanks. The clearing-out members; extend su-fliciently up into the trough to strike the; edge of such messages, butbelow the. point of contact of the message with the trough wall, so as topositively-withdraw the lower edge of the message from'ben'eath the trough" by a pivoting action about the point of contact of the upper part of the message with the trough wall. The message is thereby freed for further movement through the conveyor.

It will be evident that numerous changes may be made in the exact details of construction without leparting from the spirit or essential attributes of the invention and we contemplate all such changes within the scope of our invention. 7

What we claim is:

1. A conveyer for transporting sheet material in a substantially vertical position and in a substantially horizontal directioncom- V prising a longitudinally extending trough having a depth several times its width, and having an open lower end, a belt support longitudinally co -extensive with the trough, disposed below the open end thereof, an endless belt adapted to travel on said support, the support being spaced uniformly from the lower end of the trough and the margins of the belt beneath the lower end of the trough being plane, whereby uniform clearance is maintained between the belt and trough end, and a clearing-out member secured to the belt entirely within the confines of the open end of the trough, said clearing-out member projecting upwardly from the belt into said trough a distance sufiicient to strike the lower portion of sheet material inclined between the upper portion of one wall of the trough and the lower edge of the opposite wall, so as to rock the sheet about its upper portion.

2. A conveyer for transporting sheet material in a substantially vertical position and horizontal direction comprisinga longitudinally extending trough, having a depth sev- V eral times its width and having an open lower end, a belt sup-port disposed below the open end of the trough, an endless belt adapted to travel on said support, the sup-port being spaced uniformly from the lower end of the trough and a clearing-out member secured to 1 the belt and projecting upwardly therefrom into said trough a distance greater than the width of the trough, so as to strike the lower portion of sheet material in the trough to rock the same about its upper portion.

3. -A conveyer for transporting sheet material in a substantially vertical position and horizontal direction, comprising a longitudinally extending trough, having a depth several times its width, an endless belt adapted to travel in the base of said trough and a clearing-out member secured to the belt and proj ecting upwardly therefrom into the trough a distance suflicient to strike the lower portionjof sheet material in the trough to rock the same about its upper portion.

4:. A conveyer for transporting sheet material in a substantially vertical position and horizontal direction, comprising a longitudinally extending trough, having a depth several times its width and having an open lower end, a belt support disposed below the open end of the trough, an endless belt adapted to travel. on said support, thesupport being spaced from the 7 whereby the lower edge of said sheet material may enter beneath the trough and a clearing-out member secured to the belt and projecting upwardly therefrom into the trough and arranged to engage the sheet adjacent the portion thereof projecting beneath the trough, to restore the same into the trough.

In testimony whereof we aflix' our signa tures.

FR AN GI S GRIFFITH.

lower end of the trough,

MAURICE B. SMITH. 

